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Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau Achieves Record-Breaking Hotel BookingsDate: 05/08/2008 FORT WORTH, Texas ? The Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau announces it has booked a record-breaking 162,000 definite room nights during the first seven months of the organization?s 2007-2008 fiscal year, which started on October 1, 2007. ?Sixty percent of our fiscal year is complete, and we?ve already exceeded in future meetings bookings what we did in our best year to date, over a 12-month period,? said David DuBois, CMP, CAE, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau. ?With the recent increase in our sales and marketing budget, we have added five new salespersons to market Fort Worth to potential meetings and conventions customers. The expanded sales team, combined with the new hotel products that are opening in the next few months, allows us to attract all types of meetings and conventions that we were not able to host in the past.? Previous to this fiscal year, the highest hotel bookings the Bureau reached for a twelve month period totaled 152,000 definite room nights. The 2007-2008 goal for the Bureau is to secure 250,000 definite room nights. Some of the new convention business driving the increased room nights includes the Texas Medical Association and the Army Aviation Association in 2010, along with the Texas Apartment Association in 2011, just to name a few. Fort Worth City Mayor Mike Moncrief said, ?Fort Worth continues to grow its position as a top-tier destination for meetings, conventions and tourism. The Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau has provided a return on investment that is greatly benefiting our community?s economic bottom line. Thanks in part to the Bureau?s hard work, each year hundreds of thousands of visitors shop in our stores, dine in our restaurants, stay in our hotels, and experience our major sporting and entertainment venues. This economic synergy creates jobs and brings in billions of dollars in tax revenue that supports vital city services and local infrastructure.? The Bureau is also producing impressive results in other areas, including: ? The tourism sales department has reached almost 50 percent of its annual goal of 2,500 tour group room nights for this fiscal year. ? The marketing team has reached 89 percent of its media value goal of $1.6 million and has hosted more than 40 journalists this fiscal year. One of the highlights for the Bureau was a special story featuring Fort Worth as a great vacation destination on a weekend edition of the ?Today Show? in April. The department also added a web marketing manager to enhance Fort Worth?s online presence and e-marketing capabilities. ? The services department?s fulfillment of visitor information is up compared to last year. The team continues to receive positive client feedback and consistently ranks as ?very good to excellent? (based upon survey results). Fort Worth?s new and renovated downtown developments: ? The Fort Worth Convention Center, which completed a $75 million expansion in 2003, comprises eight city blocks. The center has 253,226 square feet of exhibit space (180,266 of it contiguous), 60,000 square feet of meeting room space in 41 breakout rooms, 55,000 square feet for outdoor events, 45,000 square feet for storage and eight loading docks. The 28,160-square-foot Grand Ballroom is as elegant as it is flexible, with a dramatic ?field of stars? suspended from the ceiling. The convention center also includes a 13,500-seat arena for large events. ? Ground was broken in August 2006 on the Omni Fort Worth Hotel, the new convention center headquarters facility. Expected to open in January 2009, this luxury property will feature 607 rooms and nearly 68,000 square feet of meeting space. ? Opening in June 2008 less than a block from the convention center, the Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel and Spa will offer 430 guest rooms and 22,000 square feet of meeting space. ? The 294-room Hilton Fort Worth, 504-room Renaissance Worthington Hotel and 203-room Courtyard by Marriott Blackstone have completed extensive renovations to their properties. ? The Embassy Suites Hotel Fort Worth-Downtown is now open, offering 156 two-room suites and meeting spaces that are ideal for smaller events. Legal Information Kelly Campbell, Vice President of Marketing Communications Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau Phone: 817-698-7841 (direct) or 800-433-5747, ext. 232 Email: kellycampbell@fortworth.com
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